School of Journalism and Mass Communication

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Browsing School of Journalism and Mass Communication by Author "John, Jesse Flavian Ndizera"

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    The contribution of print media in promoting civic education in Tanzania: a case study of Majira newspaper
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2015) John, Jesse Flavian Ndizera
    This study was done to investigate the contribution of print media in promoting civic education in Tanzania. Specifically the study was intended to (1) identify civic education articles published; (2) identify groups which were the target of such articles published; (3) determine the prominence accorded to civic education articles; and (4) determine the challenges in reporting civic education issues. A case study descriptive research design was used. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 60 news issues of Majira Newspaper that were published from January 2015 to June 2015 for review by means of a structured questionnaire. Key informants guide was used to collect data on challenges in reporting civic education matters. The study found that the topic of election was more covered as it comprised of 27% of all civic education published articles. Other preferred topics include democracy (22.7%); governance (15.8%); human rights (13.1%) and abiding to the laws of the nation (10%). The least reported topic was defense of the nation comprising of 3% of the articles published; peace (3.4%) and citizens’ duties (5%). Most articles targeted the members of general public; government and religious leaders; students/youths; and women among others. Low prominence accorded to civic education articles was vividly evidenced with many articles being similar to classified adverts. Challenges facing delivery of civic education include the pressure to cover marketable news and high cost of running private media houses. The study concluded that in Tanzania reporting of civic education is constrained by poor focus of topics, target group and low prioritization. Based on these findings it is recommended that the Government should design policies that will reduce cost by reducing tax structures for consumables and machineries used in print and electronic media houses. Also stakeholders can develop and provide special awards and incentives to journalists and media houses which cover and report news on civic education.